return
by eyliena
Summary: Rogue had untapped powers, and it is finally time for her to be shown how they work
1. telepathic message

DISCLAIMER OVER WHOLE STORY: I do not own X-men and never will. End

_This story is set after the 2nd movie, but before the 3rd. It does not follow any of the X-Men: The Last Stand storyline._

**This is a re-write, beginning from chapter one. I've only done 1 so far, and chapter 17 is where the re-writes will end.**

_**Eyliena**_

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'_Something is coming!_

She was sure that the voice came from inside her head, but Rogue looked around herself in confusion. Whoever had sent the telepathic message had sounded desperate, so she stood up to search for anyone around her.

There was no one else in amongst the library stacks, so she reclaimed her seat and bent her head back down to continue her work.

The telepathic voice came to her again, just as desperate, but this time louder than before.

'Gather your forces' It pleaded. 'They'll be needed in the upcoming battle.' Rogue threw her pen down onto the table as her homework was interrupted yet again. This was important, and someone was messing around sending telepathic messages into her mind. The voice was so strong that it had obviously come from inside the building, and considering that all the telepaths were students apart from the Professor, she was betting that they'd have to be just outside the library door, too.

"Ray!" She called out angrily.

"This is SO not funny. I am now officially sick of hearing voices in my head!"

There was no reply, so Rogue stood up and moved around to see if anybody was hiding in between the stacks.

The room was quiet. There wasn't even the mutter or giggle of Bobby or anyone else who's bright idea it would have been to play a joke like this. Rogue frowned as her eyes scanned the room.

"Okay now, joke's over. You can come out!" She called into the silent emptiness. It was late at night, so everyone had either already gone to bed, were watching the TV or were entertaining themselves some other way before they settled down for the night.

Rogue moved over to the door, searching the hallway for any sign of a student. Rogue was completely alone, and there was no kid in the school powerful enough to project their thoughts through walls. Anyway, if this was someone's idea of a joke, then they would want the glory for totally freaking Rogue out, so they'd want to be around to see her reaction.

Rogue started to make her way back to her table to retrieve her belongings. She stopped suddenly, deciding that maybe it was more important to tell Professor Xavier right away.

As she exited the library once more, she bumped into Logan.

"Oh. Logan. Hi." She greeted him, looking around herself self-consciously.

Logan didn't seem to mind that she had run into him, he just spoke abruptly to her as if he didn't want to waste any time with chit-chat.

"Hi. Hey, you know, I have to go and see Xavier right now, so I can't stick around and chat." He said gruffly.

"Well, that's exactly where I'm going, so we can go together." Rogue told him cheerfully. Logan just stared at her for a second then started off down the hallway, leaving Rogue to catch up and walk along beside him.

"So, kid. What're you goin' to see the professor for, huh?" Logan asked her. Rogue looked down at her feet as she walked.

"I know it sounds stupid, and it may have just been someone's idea of a joke, but…" She trailed off.

"But what?" Logan just stared straight ahead, he didn't even look at Rogue as he spoke to her, but Rogue looked up at him.

"I heard a voice in my head, but there was no one else in the room. No one here is powerful enough to project through walls yet, are they?"

Logan suddenly stopped short. Rogue stopped, too and looked at him curiously. "What?" She asked.

"It wasn't just me, then." He said softly.

"What?" Rogue repeated.

"Don't worry. Just come on. If it wasn't just us, then there're probably already others who have gone to see Xavier." Logan reached out to grab Rogue's arm, but stopped when he saw that she wasn't wearing a glove on her right hand.

"I was writing." Rogue stated simply, then turned and kept walking down the hall.

"And don't tell me not to go." She called behind her to Logan. "If what the voice said was true, then you're going to need me, too." Logan ran a little to catch up to her, and she looked him in the eyes. "And I'm not a little kid anymore, Logan. You can't protect me forever."

"But I promised I would." Logan replied calmly and softly.

**

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xxx **

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"We're going to have a school meeting tomorrow, but until then you have to keep everyone calm." Professor Xavier told everyone in the room.

Only a few kids had been freaked out enough to go to the headmaster, and from what Rogue had heard of their ordeals, they didn't hear any words in the mix of the telepathic connection.

Even some of the professors made no move to mention more than a desperate gargle. "Now all of you should go back to bed and mention to everyone that all of this will be explained in the morning.

Everyone filed out but the X-men team and Rogue. "I thought some of you might stay." Xavier said, closing the door behind the last of the stragglers who moved out of his office.

"What about the message?" Rogue asked him. Everyone else in the room nodded.

"Well, I thought it was best not to alarm those who hadn't heard it." He looked around the room. "Although I doubt that all of you heard the whole thing anyway."

"Do you know who sent the message?"

"Well, it seems that whoever did tell us this is extremely powerful, because they have blocked their mind from me. I don't think that even Cerebro would find them."

"How do you know it wasn't magneto?" Logan asked.

"Magneto doesn't have that kind of power." Scott stated.

"Scott's right. Magneto doesn't possess any telepathic power, and anyway, he blocks his mind from me with the use of his helmet. There is nothing here but the willpower of the mutant to stop me from reaching them."

"Another one of Magneto's new flunkies?" Logan suggested.

"No." Storm said. "Why would Magneto want to warn us of anything? It is not something that he would do."

Rogue was thinking hard, and when something occurred to her, she opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by a look from the professor.

"Tomorrow morning we're going to have an assembly." Xavier told the people in the room. Everyone except Rogue and Logan moved out of Xavier's office.

"Logan, you can go." Xavier told him. Logan gave a glare to no one in particular before leaving the office and closed the door behind him.

"Professor." Rogue began. "When it… I felt… It felt like I knew the person who was communicating with us." Xavier gave Rogue a sympathetic look.

"Rogue, I know who it was."

"But you said that-"

"That she was too powerful for me to zone in on? That is true. Jean has grown truly powerful."

"Jean?" Rogue was truly shocked by this revelation. Her legs wobbled underneath her and she sat down on a chair.

"You shouldn't tell anybody else about this." Xavier warned. Too many feelings can be hurt around here, and Jean expressed her reluctance to let anybody else but you know."

"But why me?" Rogue questioned. "I'm not anything special."

"Well Rogue, that is all a matter of opinion." Xavier stated. He maneuvered his chair around his desk and in front of Rogue. "Jean believes that you have so much untapped power and wants you with her so she can teach you how to use it." All Rogue could do was stare at the professor.

"What?" She asked, taken aback by the statement. "I don't have any-"

"I know that it's a shock." Xavier interrupted her. "But there are some things that you just have to do sometimes." He commented as he moved towards the door.

"You have a choice to make about where you are going from here, and if you choose to take the path that Jean has requested you take, then you're going to have to pack and say goodbye to your friends. You may be gone quite a while. Whatever you choose, though, Rogue, you can't tell anyone that Jean is still alive."

With that last comment, Xavier left her in his office, leaving Rogue to run through her feelings in her head, and make the choice alone.

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Please review. I like reviews.**

_Eyliena_


	2. goodbyes

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I think you know how much it has meant to me because you all probably have your own fanfics.  
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)  
Again, thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you liked the last one.  
_Eyliena_**

"Bobby, I have to leave." Rogue didn't even bother with the formality of saying hi, because she had been looking for Bobby ever since she woke up that morning, and she really didn't have the energy to break it to him slowly.

"What?" Bobby looked confused. "Where do you have to go, Rogue?"

"I can't tell you." Rogue looked down at her feet, and Bobby moved closer to her to place his hands on her shoulders.

"You can tell me anything." He assured her softly.

"No, really, Bobby, I can't, because I don't even know where I'm going. All I know is that it is something about my power." Bobby looked alarmed at the statement, and looked into her eyes.

"How can you go somewhere when you don't know where it is? How can you trust that this isn't something bad? There was that thing last night, the voice in our head, maybe it has something to do with that." Rogue pushed Bobby away and pulled herself out of his grip.

"Professor Xavier wants me to go." She told him quietly. "And it does have something to do with last night, that is why there's that assembly today, Xavier's either gonna tell us that everything is okay and under control, or that we're all in trouble."

"But why would Xavier want you to leave?" Bobby asked. "It's safe for you here."

"No!" Rogue exclaimed gently, finally understanding what was going on in Bobby's mind. "He didn't suggest that I leave because I'm dangerous, he even let me make my own decision, it's just that… that I need to leave here. There's someone who can help me control my power, and that's just something that I need to do. I want to be able to touch you, Bobby, I want to be able to kiss you."

"But you can kiss me." Bobby pulled Rogue close to him again.

"No, Bobby." Rogue said as she pushed him away again. "I mean without hurting you." Bobby looked disappointed as Rogue stepped further away from him. "Any chance I have at finally being able to control my power, I'll take. Please understand that, Bobby."

"Oh." Bobby looked away from her, then back to her eyes. "Say goodbye to me before you leave, okay?" Rogue nodded.

"Okay." She said before turning to leave Bobby alone outside the back door of the school. She sighed as she glanced back at him and wondered if they'd ever truly be together.

"Hi kid." Rogue had bumped into Logan once more, and he greeted her cheerily, but there was an underlying sadness in him that had been there since Jean had died… or disappeared as Rogue had recently found out.

"Hi Logan." She replied, not even trying to _seem_ happy, Logan looked concerned.

"What's wrong, kid?" He asked. Rogue just shook her head.

"I think you already know." She told him. "I'm leaving."

"Yeah, I did know that." Logan muttered. "And I'm gonna miss you, kid."

"Well, maybe instead of protecting me now, you can protect Bobby for me instead, right?"

"Yeah, kid. I promise I'll take care of your boyfriend for you, although he's gonna be a bigger handful than you've been over the years."  
"Thanks, Logan." Rogue smiled at him. "I'm gonna miss you, too." She reached up and pulled him into a hug, being careful not to touch him with any of her bare skin. When they pulled apart, Logan looked uncomfortable. "How can anyone be more trouble than I am?" Rogue joked to lighten the mood. Logan didn't laugh.

"So, you goin to this assembly thing?" He asked.

"No, I think I'll have to go pack."

"So, when're you leaving?" I was so like Logan to get straight to the point, and Rogue knew she would miss it.

"I don't know." She answered before turning to leave, keeping her feelings inside.

"Don't forget to say goodbye." Logan called out to her.

"I believe that all of us, students and teachers, who weren't asleep just before lights out last night received a message from another mutant. This could, of course, be a hoax, but this individual mutant must have extraordinary power to convey the message to so many mutants from outside the school grounds, and so we are taking this threat to our safety seriously. We were told to 'gather our forces', and so that is what we're going to do. Our older students will have to be trained with the X-Men, we're all going to have to do things we don't usually do around here, because all of us together are stronger, and I think that whoever sent the message meant a whole lot more than just to gather our X-Men. We may have to teach each of you individually to use your own special skills to defend yourselves if an attack does come." Professor Xavier took a breath and looked over to the door of the school's gym, where Rogue was standing, listening intently to his speech. She, like him, obviously understood the severity of the warning, especially since she knew who it had come from. Xavier didn't believe that she truly knew what kind of danger there was, and the danger that she would be in when she went to Jean. As Rogue stood watching him, her eyes began to fill with tears, and Xavier made another gap in his speech by drawing in another breath. Xavier could have cried for the poor girl. Her mutant power had caused her nothing but pain her whole life, and now was no exception.

"Just remember." He continued. "That although we're teaching you fighting skills, you're only meant to use them for your own self-defence. I don't want to see any fights in the halls of this school." He stopped speaking again as Rogue moved from the doorway. "I also have to inform you all that one of our students will be leaving. I suggest that no one ask any questions as to where she is, or inform anyone outside of this school about her going. I also suggest that until she leaves, that no one should make her upset about this."

"So who's leaving?" Came a voice from the back of the gym as Rogue moved up to the front onto the stage. She took the microphone when professor Xavier handed it to her and looked out to the room full of people.

"I didn't think I should go without saying goodbye to all of you." She said shakily to everyone. "Yeah, I'm the one who has to go, and I know that there will be some of you out there who will be happy to see me leave. A lot of you think that I am dangerous somehow, but that is why I'm leaving – to get a better hold of my power, and I just… I just hope that those of you who don't want me to go will understand why I have to." The room was filled with a different silence than the respectful one that occurred during Xavier's speech. No one moved in his or her seats, and Rogue took a deep breath before ending her own speech. "Please, take Professor Xavier's advice and don't ask me where I'm going, because you know that I can't tell you, and it would break my heart to have to tell you that personally." She handed the microphone back to Xavier and moved quickly past the rows of her silent peers and teachers. Bobby quickly stood up to follow her and Professor Xavier watched them thoughtfully as they left the room.

**I have to say again, thank you for the reviews. It helps to get congratulations and helpful hints about my writing. Sorry about the typos. I didn't even notice it because I was skim reading. I think my computer changed the spelling for me, but I don't know… I PROMISE I'll never spell _ROGUE_ wrong again. :p – and you'll also be happy to know that I re-posted the last chapter, Rogue free :)  
Feel free to correct me on any other really bad typos because I find it funny :p  
_Eyliena_**


	3. 

**Chapter 3! **

**I hope you have liked the story so far, and I hope that you'll continue reading and reviewing. As for those who read and don't review, I don't care…  
Oh, yes I do, please review!**

**THANK YO SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED, I LOVE YOU ALL!  
_Eyliena_**

"You can't go, Rogue!" Bobby called out after her. He ran down the path from the front door to catch up with her. "I can't lose you."

"Bobby…" Rogue reminded him as she turned to face him with tears in her eyes. "…I can't lose the chance to finally learn how to use my power. If someone thinks they have a way, then I have to take a chance on that."

"Do you even know who you're going to see about this?" Bobby asked her. Rogue looked uncomfortable.

"I used to know them…" She said.

"Rogue, you-" Rogue held out her gloved hands and cut Bobby off.

"I don't wanna hurt everyone I touch anymore." She whispered to him.

"But how do you know that it-"

"I'm trying to be optimistic about this, Bobby. I just want to be able to kiss you without hurting you." She turned away from him. Bobby took hold of her shoulder and turned her back around to face him. He kissed her and pulled back quickly so that nothing could happen.

"See, we can kiss." He told her.

"Yeah, but I still have to go." Rogue placed a gloved hand on Bobby's cheek.

"Goodbye." She whispered, and turned around again. She made her way purposefully to the car Scott was using to drive her to the train station without once looking back at Bobby. She believed that if she did look back at him, that she wouldn't be able to leave him.

"So…" Scott began as she got into the car and he started to drive away. "Do you have any idea who this… this friend of Xavier's is that you're going to meet?" Rogue squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

"Well, kinda." She said vaguely.

"Great." There was no other attempt by Cyclops to make conversation, and Rogue was quite happy to continue the rest of the ride in silence.

"Jean?" Even though she had heard from Professor Xavier that Jean Gray was still alive, Rogue couldn't believe her eyes. She had seen the flood of water that had enveloped the powerful mutant, professor and friend, and she had cried along with everyone else at their loss. She ran through the deserted train station and embraced Jean, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I missed you." Rogue said to her in greeting. "Everyone would be so glad if they knew you were alive."

"I know, Rogue. It would be a little painful to see anyone right now." Rogue saw the emotion of her friend in her eyes. She was obviously sad about losing her friends as much as they were sad about losing her. They stood in the middle of the small town's train station for a few minutes, just holding the hug, then Jean pulled away and began to lead Rogue to her car.

"You must be pretty tired from your trip." She said to Rogue. "We should get you back so that you can have a rest." Rogue ran to catch up with Jean.

"Can you really teach me to control my power?" She questioned.

"It's going to take a lot of work." Jean told her as she looked straight ahead. "Your gift is very powerful, but if you have the concentration to tap into it, it can be even more powerful." Rogue stopped walking.

"Do I want to be more powerful?" She questioned Jean.

"Yes, of course you do." Jean stopped as well and took hold of Rogue's shoulders. "If you want to help out when the time comes, you're going to have to be confident in your own abilities." Rogue nodded and they started to walk again.

"What's coming?" She asked.

"I shouldn't tell you, Rogue, because knowing the future is dangerous for anyone." Rogue looked questioningly at Jean, but Jean wasn't looking at her, she was unlocking the car doors.

As they were driving, Jean looked over at Rogue.

"I have many mutants under my care." She explained. "I block them from the view of Cerebro and other things."

"Why?" Rogue asked. "Professor Xavier wouldn't do anything to them. He even has his own school."

"But my hideout for mutants isn't a school, really. There are many adult mutants who also learn to use their power better, and most of the mutants who stay with me really prefer not to have anyone know about them, so I hide them from the view of the world."

"Why from the professor, though?"

"There are many weaknesses that Xavier has that you wouldn't know about, Rogue, but when someone finds out these things, I don't think it will be safe for some of the more powerful mutants to be around him or to be known by him. I had to show myself to him to get you to come here, but I won't reveal to him where I am."

"So, you're powerful enough to bock others from the view of Cerebro as well?" Rogue asked thoughtfully. "You are so totally powerful." She sounded awed.

"I kind of wish that I wasn't." Jean sighed. "Being powerful and on the side of good is a big burden. Xavier has felt it since he was young, and it is something that he is going to find a lot more of a burden soon."

"It's a burden I'm going to have to carry, too?" The statement was posed as a question, as if Rogue wanted to deny her the responsibility of being a powerful mutant. After she asked, she quickly looked out of the window at the passing farmland to avoid Jean's gaze as she glanced over at her younger comrade.

"It's going to be okay." She assured her. "You're going to be just fine."

"Can you tell me that for sure?" Rogue asked her. Jean waited a few seconds in an uncomfortable silence before answering.

"Anything that will happen to you, Rogue, is up to you. I can show you your path, show you how to harness your power, but it is you who has to make the choice about what to do with my advice and guidance." Rogue continued to stare out of the window at the passing land as she pondered everything Jean had told her in the short time they had been together.

**What do you think? Because I've said it before and I'll say it again. Please review.  
(I'll probably stop saying it after a while because it takes so long to type. Stay tuned for the next chapter that I'll make up a title for on the spot, cool huh:p  
_Eyliena_**

p.s. As a thankyou for all the reviews, ill put up two chapters, okay? Hope this story lives up to all my reviewer's standards


	4. learning

**Me again, this is _Eyliena _with a new chapter of _RETURN._ At the time of writing this, I am stuck for a chapter title, but I'll make up something later, okay?  
As you can probably tell, I'm always stuck for something to write as an author's note at the beginning, but I'm still always writing something here, doesn't that just annoy you? Maybe I should quit doing this and just go straight to writing the chapter, or maybe I should place a disclaimer on every chapter, but that would get kinda boring. I think this is a kind of way to get to know the author of the story you're reading. But for all of you who really don't care (or even if you do) here's the story and I'll stop babbling.**

Rogue stepped out of Jean's car; amazed at the size of the cavern they were in. Jean had seemed to have a small cottage at the base of a mountain, but the cottage happened to hide a secret entrance to a hideaway inside the mountain.

"This is SO cool!" She exclaimed. Jean just smiled at her.

"I feel like saying 'welcome to my secret lair' or something like that." She said. Rogue smiled back at her. "I needed a place that would be a lot cooler than Xavier's school." She joked. "But seriously, I have kids here who have no homes, or have run away like some of Xavier's kids. The look of a school wouldn't cut it for me, though. I needed a secret place. So many of the mutants here just need a place to stay that was safe, and they need a place where they can learn to control their powers in peace."

"But how did you pay for all of this, how did you build it all?" Rogue questioned her.

"Well, getting the mountain all to myself was hard work, but building this place was the easy part. Its not like I needed professional builders, because there are an abundance of mutants who need a place to stay that helped me. Most of the people who live here already had jobs, so they could help pay for the materials, and it just all grew from there. Any of the mutants staying here who don't have special skills that are needed for jobs just work outside here on the farm, and that pays for all the food that is needed, and, of course, building materials for new rooms. Its like an apartment block in here, you're going to love it, Rogue."  
After Rogue had finished looking incredulously around the entrance hall, she smiled at Jean.

"So, where's my room?" She asked.

There was a knock on Rogue's door in the morning as she was getting dressed after her morning shower.

"Hang on a second!" She called out as she pulled her t-shirt over her head and replaced the gloves on her hands. She opened the door to find Jean.

"Good morning!" Jean greeted her cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, the bed is really comfortable and it is so great to have my own room."

"Apartment." Jean corrected her. "I hope you don't mind, but we should start our training right away. We have a long way to go." Rogue nodded and stepped out of the door, closing it as she began to follow Jean down the very wide corridor. Once again, she stared at the tall ceilings and endless hallways that they moved past as Jean led the way.

"The training hall is an interesting place." Jean commented as they walked. "But we're not going there today, because I thought that you might feel comfortable away from everyone else's curious stares on your first day here."  
Right at the end of one of the seemingly endless hallways was a door labeled 'LOUNGE B6'. Jean pulled open the door to let Rogue in first.

"How'd you afford all this neat furniture?" Rogue asked as she entered the room and jumped onto a floral patterned couch that sat in front of a widescreen TV. Jean laughed at what seemed like a private joke.

"Everyone likes to have their home comforts, even in a place like this, so seeing as the rooms are too small to fit all of this stuff in, people buy their expensive things or bring them from their old homes and put them in the closest lounge room to them. The people in the area of this room all gave money to buy the TV. Then you have the furniture… I don't think the couple that own that floral couch could ever part with it." She smiled distantly then looked back to Rogue. "This is the closest lounge to you, so you can use the stuff in here. Just don't break anything, okay? Especially not the couch, you don't want to mess with that couple."  
At the last remark, Rogue stopped bouncing on the couch and stood up to face Jean.

"So what are we starting with?" She asked.

"Take off your gloves." Jean ordered. Rogue did so quickly and Jean stepped towards her and held out her hands. "Hold onto my hand." She said. Rogue didn't agree with this. She stepped backwards.

"You've got to be joking, I'll hurt you, Jean."

"You can't hurt me." Jean assured her. Rogue reached a shaking hand out to one of Jean's, but pulled her hand back in recoil before she touched her at all. Jean sighed.

"You know that you have to start somewhere, Rogue. If you don't try this, you're not going to get anywhere with your power.

"Can't we start with meditation or something like that first?" Rogue pleaded nervously. "I don't want to… I can't hurt you, Jean. What if I can't stop it this time."

"Don't worry." Jean told her softly as she stepped forward and placed her hand in Rogue's. "I know how to deal with this."  
Rogue closed her eyes and held her breath, but when nothing happened, she opened first one eye, then the other. Jean was looking at her sympathetically.

"See, there's nothing to be scared of with me." She soothed her. Rogue finally remembered to breathe and started taking deep breaths. "Now you have to focus." Jean said slowly. "What do you feel?"  
Rogue's deep breaths had calmed her down and she closed her eyes to focus.

"I can feel… your energy." She told Jean. "But I'm not pulling it into myself. It is where it belongs."

"Can you feel my power?" Jean asked. Rogue opened her eyes to look at Jean once again.

"Yes." She stated. "And it feels like you're scared of it."

**Okay, word limit for one chapter reached… and gone over. You're all going to have to wait till next time to fid out what happens in the rest of the first training session, mostly because my creativity is temporarily blocked. I also have a problem figuring out if the words I write are things that Rogue and Jean would actually say, so if you think that some of the ways they said some things could have been worded better, please tell me. I don't know if it really was as bad as I thought it was, so feedback is so greatly appreciated.**  
**_Eyliena_**


	5. i can't think of a chapter name

**Thank you for reviewing, I love everyone who reviews my stories, and I hope that this chapter is everything you wanted it to be. If you are not fully satisfied, your money will be cheerfully refunded…. Seriously though, if there's something not quite right about my story, don't hesitate to tell me, either by review or email. Once again, I love you all. :)**  
_**Eyliena**_

You're right, I'm scared of it." Jean admitted. "To have so much power and not be scared that some day it would completely take me over would be wrong. Power corrupts people, Rogue, and you're going to have to understand that with your power as well."  
Rogue just looked at Jean, stunned, as she held onto her hand. She took in the feelings, and then looked down at her hand in Jean's.  
"I can't believe that I am actually touching someone again." She said incredulously. "It has been… so long."  
"I understand." Jean said sympathetically. She placed her other hand on top of Rogue's. "It's okay."  
Rogue was taking deep breaths again to calm herself down and to stop herself from crying. She could feel tears stinging at the corners of her eyes.  
"You have no idea how much this means to me." She said as she looked back up at Jean again.  
"I know a little about how it feels." Jean told her. "It is the kind of relief you feel when you find that being a mutant has no longer got total control of your life and you interactions with other people. I felt it when I was finally able to tell Xavier that I was alive, and when I saw you again."  
"You miss everyone else so much, don't you?" Rogue asked her softly. "You miss Scott so much that it hurts."  
"You're already missing Bobby. I know, Rogue, and I'm sorry to say that the pain is only going to get worse as time wears on."  
"Yeah, I know." Rogue looked down again, but this time at her feet, and both girls just stood there in silence.

"So…" Jean said finally. "We should probably get on with this session since you have finally mastered your fear of touching people." She let go of Rogue's hand and stepped backwards again. "What we're trying to do here, Rogue, is to get you to concentrate on your power and what effect it has on other people. You can't draw my energy from me, because of the powers I have, but if it were anyone else, you would have. When you touch me again, you have to concentrate on your power and just try to ignore mine. Maybe that would be a good place to start." She sat down on the flowery couch and beckoned for Rogue to sit next to her.  
"How do you know how to control my power?" Rogue asked.  
"I don't." Jean confessed. "But we'll start from here and see what happens." Rogue smiled as she went to sit next to Jean. It was good for her to know that she wasn't the only one who was unsure of what to do. For the millionth time in the three days that she knew, Rogue was ecstatic that Jean was alive and well.

After the failed session (at least that's what Rogue thought). Jean led Rogue to the mess hall to eat lunch. As they entered the room, Rogue was disappointed to see the lack of any teenagers in the room. Jean saw her disappointment and smiled.  
"Don't worry." She said. "It's a school day. Anyone who's your age here is at school."

"So there are kids my age here?" Rogue asked as they sat down with food.  
"A few." Jean told her. "Most are not your age. There are quite a few runaways, though. Some that were kicked out of home, and some others who actually had a mutant parent who were kind of dumped. The world is very hostile out there for people who are found out to be mutants."  
"I know." Rogue replied distractedly. Jean accepted her silence and didn't say anything else until she led Rogue back to 'LOUNGE B6'.

The afternoon session was much the same as the morning one, Rogue felt that she wasn't getting anywhere as she held onto Jean's hand and tried to get Jean's enormous power out of her head. She tried it with her eyes open, her eyes closed, sitting down, standing up, thinking of her own power, or of professor Xavier's school. Even the thought of Bobby couldn't even take up a small amount of space in her thoughts for any amount of time. She finally let go of Jean's hand in exasperation, tired of sitting for so long in silence.  
"You should go meet the other kids now." Jean told her. "We can do this again tomorrow, and I have to be somewhere."

The training room was not like anything Rogue had imagined. She didn't really have a wild imagination in the first place, and the only real training room she had ever seen was the X-men's training room in Xavier's school. This room was nothing like that at all. It was as cavernous as the entrance hall was, and filled with various types of training equipment, from gym machines to targets. There were soft mats in various places around the huge room where mutants were sparring with each other, and Rogue was happy to see it all.  
"Everyone has their own reason for being here…" Jean started. "More often than not it is to learn how to use their power, so you'll find most of the teens in here in the afternoon, and most older people in here during the day." Rogue was still looking around the room at all of the faces that were suddenly looking in their direction.  
"You new here?" Came a voice from behind them. Rogue turned to see a dark skinned boy standing there. "I know." He laughed. "You have to be new, being given the tour by Jean and all. What's your name?" Rogue couldn't find her voice, so Jean answered for her.  
"This is one of my old friend's, Rogue. Rogue, this is James. He's your age as far as I can remember."  
"Nobody knows how old I am." James joked. "My age is indeterminable and everlasting." Jean sighed and rolled her eyes at him.  
"I have to go, guys. Rogue, you can stay with James for awhile." James flashed Rogue a brilliantly white smile and bowed to Jean as she moved past him to get out of the door. Rogue felt everyone's eyes move off her as Jean left the room, and when she turned around, she was relieved to find that no one was looking at her and James as they stood awkwardly by the door.  
"So…" James trailed off. "… Do you fight?"

Rogue sat one again in the cafeteria for dinner, but this time with a table full of chattering teens. A hush in the conversation made all eyes turn to Rogue.  
"So, Rogue." The girl next to her started. "I heard the you're an old friend of Jean's… where are you from?"  
"Jean's told everyone about Xavier's school where she used to teach, hasn't she?"  
"You're from Xavier's school fro gifted children?" One of the younger teens across the table from her asked. "Did you know the X-Men?"  
"Of course, they're the teachers there." Rogue explained. "I've even been out with them on some missions. I probably would have stayed there to become one of the X-Men after I finished school."  
"Woah!" The kid explained as he slumped back on his chair.  
"Why did you come here for, then?" James asked. Rogue played nervously with her gloves, and just looked down at her plate.  
"There were some things that Jean needed to teach me." She said, then picked up her plate and stood up. "I'm still hungry, I need some more food." She said as she started to walk across the room.

As Rogue lay in he bed that night, she was suddenly very much aware that she was alone. There was no one sharing her room, there was no one in the room next to her that she knew. She barely knew her way to the kitchen. Even though it was quite warm in the room, Rogue drew the blanket over her body. She had had a good session with Jean, and was comforted to know that Jean didn't have a clue what to do about her problem with her power, but was also troubled by the thought that if Jean couldn't work out how her power was used, then who could? Rogue had felt Jean's power, and she was truly powerful. Who else could be so powerful that they were scared of what they could do? Rogue shivered as the thought hit her that she was scared of what her power could do.

**Thankyou so much for constructive criticism, and some hints on how to write my dialogue. I'm sorry if I sounded like I was guilt-tripping people into reviewing (I actually was, but it was just a joke!) I worried myself thinking that I offended my readers now :p Didn't mean to offend, I know that I don't always review the stories I read, so I forgive those of you that don't review. :)  
****I like the idea of new characters, but I can't think of any new powers to give them. Any suggestions? My brain is working overtime, and I just can't think of many, so suggestions would help. Thank you for reviews, and thank you for reading this. :)  
**_**Eyliena**_


	6. 6

**Chapter 6 – yay! I've been getting a little lazy about chapter titles, as you can see from the unnamed chapters. I was never good at naming things. :)  
Oh well, just bear with the unnamed chapters and sooner or later I'll be in bed not being able to sleep coz im trying to think of chapter titles. They'll get there someday. Thanks for reading.  
_Eyliena_**

"Okay, the last attempt at controlling your power really didn't work." Jean stated. It was the next day, and after lunch when Jean and Rogue finally got back to training. "We're going too have to try a different approach."  
"Different how?" Rogue asked.  
"Well, I figured that you can't control your power of taking energy from people because you have no other power to use that is controllable."  
"So? How can I get another power?" Rogue asked her, clearly noticing that she was interrupting Jean's speech, and she really didn't care. Jean didn't seem to care, either as she continued to speak.  
"The way to help yourself lies in your own untapped powers, Rogue." She held out her hand to Rogue again. "When you feel my power this time, don't try to ignore it, concentrate on it, okay?"  
"As long as its not going to hurt you." Rogue answered as she took hold of her hand. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, fully aware of the fact that Jean was watching her reaction intently.  
"Do you feel my power all around you?" Jean asked.  
"Yes." Rogue answered without opening her eyes.  
"Well then, take the power." Jean told her.  
"What!" Rogue opened her eyes and let go of Jean's hand quickly. She moved backwards so fast that she almost fell backwards over the chair. "No way!" Jean sighed and just stood where she was.  
"Rogue, you're going to have to do something with your power sooner or later. Nothing is going to get better unless you try."  
"I'll try some other time." Rogue said as she moved towards the door. "I just can't do this right now." With that, she opened the door and left the room.

"Why aren't you with Jean?" Came a girl's voice from behind Rogue as she sat in the cafeteria. Rogue turned around to face the girl. She recognized her from the other day, her name was Callie.  
"Why aren't you at school?" Rogue retorted as she turned her back on the other girl.  
"Why did you leave home?" Callie shot back as she sat down next to Rogue.  
"Why did _you_ leave home?"  
"Why do you have to train with Jean anyway?"  
"Why are you even talking to me?" Rogue was becoming tired of the firing of questions back and forth between them.  
"Why do you wear those gloves all the time?"  
This question made Rogue go silent, she folded her arms across her chest and scowled.  
"Why do you care?" She finally whispered back.  
"Because I'm curious. I have to care." Callie replied as she turned Rogue's head so that she was facing her. "I know that something's up. You're afraid of your power, afraid what people would think of you if they knew what it was, so you won't tell anyone anything about yourself."  
"Why aren't you at school?" Rogue repeated.  
"For the same reason that you're not with Jean, Rogue. The same reason for why you wear those gloves."  
"How would you-"  
"Jean asked me to come to see you." Callie explained. "We don't want you to turn out like me."  
"Like you…?"  
"We're very much alike, Rogue." Callie commented as she stood up. "The only difference being that Jean may have found a way to help you." Callie then spun around and began to walk out of the room.  
"Wait. Callie?" Rogue called as she stood up as well. "Come with me and maybe that'll help." Callie turned back around and smiled.  
"Jean said that you might say that." Rogue gave her a questioning look and Callie just smiled wider.  
"Come on." She said. "Jean's waiting for us."

Rogue took off her gloves once more and looks to wards Callie for moral support. Callie flashed her brilliant white teeth and her crystal blue eyes sparkled with encouragement. They were the last thing Rogue saw as she grasped Jean's hand and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and concentrated on Jean's power. Jean's hand relaxed in her own and Rogue opened her eyes, alarmed at what might have happened, but Jean was fine.  
"It's okay." She assured her. "I wont be hurt. Just concentrate on what you're doing." As Rogue closed her eyes to concentrate again, she felt Jean's heartbeat. Her mind was full of a power she could never understand, and just before Rogue panicked and let go of Jean's hand, she suddenly felt at peace. She opened her eyes.  
"I can feel your barrier." Rogue told Jean as she looked into her eyes.  
"Now you have to build one of your own, a barrier between your power and other people, just like mine." Jean said softly.  
"How do I do that?" Rogue asked as she held onto Jean's hand tightly and felt calm by doing it."  
"With more training and practice. It shouldn't take too long since you've already done so much in the three days you've been here." Rogue beamed at Jean, and she finally reluctantly let go of Jean's hand.

"That was a rush!" Rogue exclaimed as she exited the room with Callie. "I can't believe that I actually felt that much of Jean's power."  
"I've heard that Jean has a pretty dangerous power." Callie said.  
"Yeah…" Rogue's eyes lowered to the floor. "It can be a bad power if it is used the wrong way." She looked Callie in the eyes. "But Jean knows how dangerous it can be, and so she uses it right. The feeling that I get from being inside Jean's head is just… it makes me feel as if everything is going to be alright."  
"I wish I felt like that." Callie said sadly.  
Rogue was quiet until they reached her room. Callie was about to walk past it, but Rogue grabbed her hand.  
"Come on." She said. "You can come in here and tell me what you've been through. Maybe my experiences will help you as well." She opened the door to her room and dragged Callie in. "We can help each other."

**I'm not sure where this is going exactly, but… oh well. It will go somewhere. :) Please review.  
_Eyliena_**


	7. 7

"So what's wrong with your power?" Rogue asked as she sat down on her bed and indicated for Callie to sit next to her. Callie just stood at the door and looked around the room like a trapped rat. "You're not claustrophobic, are you?" Rogue gave her a concerned look and stood up to stand next to her.  
"No…" Callie mumbled, then she thought better of it and looked up at Rogue. "No." She repeated more firmly. "I… I'm kinda people-phobic."  
"So… You and me being alone in this room is making you feel uncomfortable?" Rogue slid her hand onto the door handle. "Do you want to go somewhere where there are more people?"  
"No, its okay." Callie placed he4r hand on top of Rogue's. "I'm sure that if you can overcome your fear, then I can, too. I'll stay here with you just as long as you promise that you'll face whatever fear you get from your power."  
"Yeah, okay, it's a deal." Rogue removed her hand from the handle and held it out for Callie to shake. "We'll face our fears." Callie shook her hand slowly. "What is it about your power that makes you scared of being alone in a room with someone anyway?" Callie moved further in to the room and sat on Rogue's bed.  
"You tell me why you wear those gloves and are afraid of touching people first." She said. Rogue wrung her gloved hands nervously.  
"Well…" She began as she moved over and sat next to Callie. "When I touch people – I don't really know how this works – but when I touch people I absorb their energy. When my bare skin touches other mutants, I absorb their power as well. It's kind of like sucking the life out of them."  
"Is that why you left home?"  
"I put my boyfriend in a coma before I could pull away from his kiss." Callie stayed silent for a minute before beginning her story.  
"When I'm alone with someone, I see their future." She said slowly. "It's… it isn't always good. Mostly, in their future I can see their death."  
"And you can't control it?" Callie shook her head. "Can you see my future right now?"  
"Rogue, I'm purposely not trying to look."  
"But I thought we were going to face our fears."  
"Well then, you take off your gloves and hold onto my hand." Callie dared her as she held out her hand. "I don't want to see your death, Rogue."  
"But you don't know that you'll see my death." Rogue said softly. "It might be-"  
"It might be the evil that's coming, the one you are going to fight." Callie stood up and moved quickly over to the door. "Jean saw it, and it scared her enough to take the chance of bringing you here. I'm sorry, Rogue, I shouldn't be here with you." She said hastily as she almost ran out of the door, leaving Rogue staring out into the hallway blankly. It took a moment for the enormity of what Callie had said to hit her. Could she fight an enemy so powerful that it scared Jean? Rogue lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. It was almost 2pm, but she was so emotionally exhausted that she fell asleep.

**Sorry to end it there, this chapter is so short, but I thought that if I wrote any more of it then I would kinda wreck the meaning of what Rogue is going through. I'll try to post a new chapter really soon.  
_Eyliena_**


	8. 8

Rogue wasn't surprised when she didn't see Callie the next morning at breakfast. She had upset Callie by asking her to do something with her powers that she really didn't want to. Rogue knew how she felt, under the pressure to do something for someone else to prove the friendship. She had felt this may times with Bobby. He insisted that he kiss her, even when he knew that she couldn't control what would happen to him. Callie couldn't control what she'd see if she decided to look into Rogue's future. Maybe she'd see Rogue controlling her power, though. That is what Rogue really wanted. She sat alone at breakfast, wondering what Jean was going to make her do, and if she'd actually end up doing it this time without making a big deal of it and running away. That was what she was good at, running. It was actually quite depressing, knowing that every trial she had faced in her life she had just run away from. She had run from her parents, run from the school the time she had almost killed Logan. Now, she just wanted to run. Rogue got up silently and left for the lounge. She knew that she couldn't run, so today she resolved that she wouldn't.

She sat on the flowered couch in the lounge room, pondering about how to build up her barrier. She tried to concentrate, but knew that the only way she would know if the barrier was working would be to test it out on a person. It was more than a little nerve-racking for her to remember that if her barrier didn't work, then the one who she was practicing on would suddenly be in a very bad situation. Rogue stood up as the door opened and Jean entered the room.  
"No one's going to be here with us today?" Rogue could hear the disappointment in her own voice, and Jean just closed the door behind her.  
"Callie is a little upset." She told Rogue. "She'll get over it, but not today." She moved into the room to stand in front of Rogue. "Today you're going to have to have a lot of courage on your own." Jean told her. Rogue took a deep breath and placed her hand into Jeans now outstretched hand.  
"I'll try." She breathed out. "What do you want me to do?"  
"Do you have a barrier?" Jean asked her.  
"I think so." Rogue answered nervously.  
"Well, it had better be at least a little strong." Jean told her.  
"Why?"  
"We're going to test it out…" Jean grabbed hold of Rogue's hand as she tried to pull away. "… Without you running off first." She continued as Rogue calmed down.  
"But… what if I don't know how to make a barrier? How do I make one, anyway?"  
"You just tell your mind to make it, and if you believe in the power of your mind enough, then the barrier will be strong."  
"But what if-"  
"The barrier wont fall if you don't panic and let it fall."  
"But how will I know if-"  
"Rogue." Jean whispered softly as she pulled her into a hug. "You're already doing it, sweetie. That's how you know." Rogue stiffened in Jean's arms, but as Jean began to stroke her hair, she relaxed.  
"So if I closed my eyes and concentrated, I'd be able to see your full power, with no barrier?" Rogue asked her as she pulled away and looked into Jean's eyes.  
"You could." Jean responded. Rogue placed her hand back in Jean's, but then slowly let go.  
"I could, but I won't." he smiled at her friend. "I know where I shouldn't be looking. She turned to leave the room, happy that she had accomplished something.  
"Rogue, you have more tough times to come." Jean told her. "Controlling your power was only part of it, now you have to learn to use it."  
Rogue felt the smile fade from her face. She didn't turn around. "Yeah, I know, but I am going to enjoy this victory for a while first."

"Callie?" Rogue called out into the training room. A few people looked at her curiously as they still didn't know who she was, but Callie blatantly ignored her. Realizing this, Rogue walked slowly across the room to where Callie was punching a punching bag. Rogue placed her hand on Callie's shoulder, and Callie just turned around and smacked her in the face.  
"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I'm so sorry."  
"No you're not." Rogue told her as she rubbed her jaw and smiled. "You've been wanting to hit me since you left my room yesterday."  
"No, before that." Callie continued on the joke. "I've wanted to hit you since the first time I saw you. Now that that's over with… I'm sorry about yesterday, and today."  
"It's okay, I get it. You were scared, Callie. I used to be as well."  
"And you're not now."  
"Okay, sorry. I said it wrong. I'm scared, too."  
"What have you got to be scared of."  
"Well, not this any more." Rogue took hold of Callie's hand and looked down at it, shocked that she had actually had the courage to do it.  
"What's supposed to happen now?" Callie asked her.  
"Well, it depends on what my power can really do. Are you going to come tomorrow? Be my courage."  
"You don't need me to be brave." Callie commented.  
"No, but I want you to be there with me."  
"Do I get something in return?"  
"What can I possibly have to give?"  
Callie took Rogue's other hand.  
"Show me how to do it. Show me how to be brave."


	9. huh?

**I purposely didn't write a note last chapter. I figured that you would all be tired of my blabbering before you got to read the chapter. But you know what? I like to write my thoughts and know that people are actually reading them. I write a lot of things, from fanfics, to journals, to my own stories (only 1 of which I have finished), but it makes me happy that someone is reading what I write and all the blabbery thoughts that I have before I begin my literate thoughts in my stories. :) :) :) :)  
Thanx 4 readin' :)  
_Eyliena_**

****

Despite Rogue's brave words about finally learning how to use her power, she was reluctant to start. The fact that she didn't have to wear her gloves any more and be wary of people getting close was a relief for her, but that didn't stop her from continuing the habits she had had for a long time. One thing that Rogue couldn't stand now that she had herself under control was that she had to stay with Jean, and Bobby was so far away. There was nothing she wanted to do more than share her good news with him, but the only way she was going to go back was if she finally knew how to use her power, and Rogue was reluctant to do anything else with her powers for a while.  
Jean understood that she didn't want to go any further too soon, and she put no pressure on Rogue to want to learn anything right away, and so Rogue just wasn't in any hurry to do anything at all. She left the training do long that she even began to go to the school in the town with the other kids.

"How was school today?" Came Callie's usual greeting as Rogue entered her room.  
"It was okay." Came Rogue's generic reply. "You should start to come."  
"Well, you should get back to your training with Jean sometime soon." Callie pointed out.  
"Yeah, I should…" The room was silent as Rogue moved to sit on Callie's bed. "You know, maybe we should give this conversation some thought." She said as she lay down. "We can talk about going to school and finishing my training for the rest of our lives, but it is never going to get us anywhere."  
"So you're going to start training again soon?" Callie asked.  
"I didn't say that." The room was once again silent for a while.  
"You're gonna have to hurry up and finish this if you want to go back to Bobby." Callie finally mumbled.  
"Yeah, but what about you?"  
"I'm not your boyfriend." Callie stated. Rogue suddenly sat up as an idea came to her.  
"If I get it over with and finish this, will you come with me, Callie?" She asked.  
"Ahh…"  
"Come on, what would you do here by yourself? You can come to school at Xavier's. Everyone there would understand what you're going through."  
"And people here don't?"  
"Not at the school… It'll be a new start. For both of us."  
"I'll have to think about it."

Rogue entered the training room alone and was immediately greeted by James.  
"Where's Callie today?" He asked.  
"She wanted to be alone to think."  
"Do you wanna do some sparring?" James asked as he dragged her towards the nearest mat. Rogue nodded and let him pull her.  
"You ready?" She asked as she faced him on the mat.  
"You bet." He replied. Rogue ducked under a punch and tried to kick his legs out from underneath him, and was surprised when James was ready for it and jumped. In her surprise, she left herself open and James quickly knocked her down onto the mat.  
"How'd you do that?" Rogue asked from the floor.  
"That?" James commented modestly. "Just something I picked up from Noah. He can anticipate what move the other person is going to make, and told me how to spot some of them."  
"Handy trick to have." Rogue commented as James held out his hand to help her up. As soon as Rogue was on her feet again, she was ready to fight him. She had fought with the X-Men and wasn't going to let a little pushover win against her. Once again, James started with a punch, and as she ducked, James just delivered a blow to her stomach that knocked her right over again.  
"I think I should stop letting you have the first hit." Rogue quickly stood back up. She took a swing at James, but he moved sideways to dodge it and smacked Rogue to the mat once again. "Maybe you should show me how to do that." Rogue commented. James held out a hand to help her up.  
"Come on, then." He said.

Rogue walked through the winding passageways behind James, wondering what she'd do if she got lost.  
"How do you find your way through here?" Rogue asked him.  
"Practice." James remarked. He slowed down to walk next to her.  
"Hey, you never told me what your power is, Rogue." He said to her.  
"No, I haven't, have I?" Rogue teased him. James just looked at her from the corner of his eye as he walked along.  
"Are you going to?" He asked.  
"As soon as I find out, I'll let you know."  
James stopped abruptly, startling Rogue.  
"What?" She asked.  
"Nothing. We're just here."  
"Your room?" Rogue asked suspiciously.  
"Where else are you going to have a private lesson?" Rogue smiled as James let her into his room and let her enter first. As soon as James closed the door behind him, though, Rogue felt uncomfortable. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, and James sat down on his bed. "Come on." He said, patting the space next to him. Rogue went to sit down, but stopped just in front of James.  
"Weren't you going to show me how to anticipate your moves?" She asked him.  
"Yeah, in a minute." James told her. "Don't you wanna just sit down and rest?"  
"No, actually I don't." Rogue stood exactly where she was, staring down at James until he sighed and stood up to face her.  
"Did you anticipate this?" He asked as he drew close to her face and kissed her.  
"What? No!" Rogue exclaimed as she stumbled backwards. James looked hurt, and Rogue felt like she owed him an explanation. "I'm in love with someone else, James. Someone back at Xavier's." James just glared at her resentfully.  
"What is it?" He asked. "Am I not good enough for you because of the color of my skin?" He stepped closer to her again.  
"No, of course that's not…" Rogue trailed off as James' skin color began to change to white. "Am I better for you now, Rogue?"  
"James. I can't help it, I'm in love with Bobby." Rogue said as she stepped away from him once more. She looked towards the door and James smiled at her.  
"You think I can't anticipate what you want to do?" He asked her.  
"Look, James. Don't do this, because I really don't want to hurt you."  
"What can you do?" He sneered back at her. "You said you don't even know what your power is."  
"No, but I know what it used to do. Why do you think I always used to wear those gloves?"  
"I dunno. Really bad fashion statement?" James smirked at her, then stopped and shook his head as his skin changed back to normal. He looked bewildered. "What did I just do?" He asked her. Rogue shook her head in disbelief and ran out of the room with James calling out after her.

**Okay, are you really confused now? Because so am I. I really don't know where that came from. :) It was just a really weird spur-of-the-moment, out-of-nowhere thing where my fingers just do the typing and I think about what I wrote later. Feedback on my little literary outburst there is definitely welcomed. Hope to post again really soon when my brain catches up with my fingers and I work out what's going to happen next.  
Your forever psycho  
_Eyliena_**


	10. 10

**I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post this chapter, it may not be up to anyone's expectations because I am in the middle of my last year of school, and that is just total stress, and I have to force myself to write because my inspiration has gone on holiday (muse, please come back :( ). I hope this story doesn't go downhill, and please keep reviewing, my muse might be tempted to come back through some positive feedback, or may want to prove it is the best because of any negative feedback.**

Rogue was very much scared by what had happened to James. She felt an urgency to learn whatever Jean was going to teach her and get out of that place. Rogue had a feeling that Jean's cavern was not protected like Xavier's school was, and she had another feeling that Jean knew this. Whatever James had been trying to do, Rogue knew that it wasn't his fault, though she tried hard to avoid him for the weekend, opting to stay in her room for most of it, waiting anxiously for the week to start so she could get her lessons done with.

Rogue was startled when she heard a knock at the door. She got off her bed as quietly as she could and hoped that her unwelcome visitor would not persist. As she stood facing the door, she wished that she had x-ray vision, like Superman. It sucked that she only had one potentially lethal power that had even almost gotten her killed once. She stood rigidly still for a few minutes until she thought the person outside was gone. Just as Rogue relaxed, though, there was another knock.  
"Rogue?" Came the muffled sound of Callie's voice. "Are you in there?" As soon as Rogue heard her friend's voice, she opened the door quickly and pulled her in, shutting the door behind her. "Rogue, what are you playing at?" Callie sounded slightly irritated. Rogue sat back down on her bed solemnly. "What's wrong?" Callie suddenly sounded concerned.  
"Can you see the past?" Rogue mumbled softly.  
"I guess so." Callie sat down next to Rogue, now confused. "Why?"  
"Because I want you to see what happened on Friday after I left you."  
"After you left me?" Callie's voice was filled with relief. "So I'm not the one who confined you to your room."  
"Can you look?" Rogue asked. Callie was hesitant, but she put out her hand.  
"If I can separate the past and future, then I'm sure I can look into your past." She told Rogue as she took her hand. "This is gonna be like one of you lessons."  
"Yeah, except what you see is probably going to scare you like it did to me." Callie quickly took her hand out of Rogue's.  
"What was it?" She asked.  
"I can't explain it. It would be better if you saw it." Rogue held out her hand again, but Callie just glared at it.  
"What if I go too far back?" She asked.  
"I wouldn't suggest that, my past has been… dangerous."  
"Then-"  
"Come on." Rogue cut her off quickly. "I need someone else to know about this before I go crazy, and Callie, when I leave this place, I really want you to come with me because of this."  
Callie really didn't understand what Rogue was talking about, but she took her hand anyway. Callie hadn't known Rogue for all that long and so was tempted to dig deeper into Rogue's past, to see exactly what Rogue's power could do and what she had been through, but she trusted Rogue for some reason that she didn't comprehend, and so concentrated hard on getting into the past from Rogue's mind. The images were quick, and Callie pulled away as soon as she could.  
"That wasn't James." She stated.  
"I know." Rogue whispered. "That's why we've got to get out of here."  
"Do you think Jean knows?" Callie kept the whispering going.  
"Yeah, but Jean can take care of herself. I don't think she knows it's after me, though."  
"Well, shouldn't you just get back to your lessons with her, then?"  
"Could you… could you go tell her for me?" Rogue asked. "We could… have the lessons in here." Callie frowned at her.  
"Rogue, you have to leave this room sometime."  
"I know, just… not right now, please?"  
Callie sighed as she stood up.  
"Maybe Jean can talk some sense into you, then." She told her before she left the room. As the door closed behind her Rogue sighed and lay down on the bed. This was not going to be an easy talk with Jean. She didn't even know what had gone on, and now she had to tell Jean. Rogue closed her eyes and tried to will away the fear about what would happen to her in the future.

**I'm sorry if that was a bad chapter (and short, too). But I have very bad writer's block right now, and I just had to post up another chapter for you who read my work. Thank you for your reviews, and please keep reviewing.  
_Eyliena_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh, I am SO SO sorry about the fact that I have not updated for so long. Things are just getting on top of me, you know? My Dad hasn't been helping, as he has placed further restrictions on the use of the computer. He has taken to changing my XP password, and I have not even been able to get on the computer to type this up. I need my own computer. **

**Anyway, about my story. I am sorry for the recent drop in the effectiveness of the storyline. I guess that any time I have been able to get on the computer there has been a lack of inspiration. I promise that some things will be answered very soon. Thankyou if you are still reading this after such a big break, and for your patience, I will put up a few chapters.  
_Eyliena_**

"You want to get out of here, Rogue?" Jean asked sympathetically.

"Should I?" Rogue asked her. "I'm a little freaked about what happened… What did happen?"  
"I'm not sure, but if you're worried that someone may be after you here, then maybe its best that you do go back to Xavier's. I know less about the many people here than Xavier knows about his students, so you'd probably feel safer with him."  
"I feel safe with you." Rogue pointed out. "Just not when you're not around."  
The two friends just stood in the middle of Rogue's room awkwardly. There was silence until there was a knock on the door. Rogue looked up at it quickly, but she heard Callie's familiar voice call out.  
"It's me." Jean looked back at Rogue.  
"Are you taking Callie with you?" She asked.  
"Only if she wants to come." Rogue replied as she opened the door for her friend.  
"You talkin bout me?" Callie asked as she entered the room.  
"Who else?"  
"I dunno. Maybe you made a new friend while I was gone."  
"So… are you going to come with me?" Rogue's question was met with silence from Callie.  
"Maybe you should finish training first, Rogue. Then everything can be decided." Jean said, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them all.  
"That sounds logical." Rogue looked a little hurt that Callie could not make up her mind quickly. Jean smiled at the pair, as if she knew something that they didn't, and interrupted the silence of the room with some logic.  
"Rogue, you can't stay in here until you leave. You should get some proper food into you from the cafeteria, and you should go outside to get some air. You may be stressed and scared, but staying here is not going to help you get through it. You're going to have to be in the right frame of mind to continue with your training. All that's left is the really hard part."

After Jean had left the room, the two girls did not talk to each other. They took Jean's suggestion and went out for some food, though, and as they sat in the mostly empty cafeteria, they began to talk about trivial matters once more, totally ignoring the topic of going back to Xavier's.  
"Well, should we take Jean's advice and go outside for some air?" Callie asked. "Its what, 12'o'clock now?" She gave a short laugh. Rogue laughed with her, not worried about who may be listening, as the hall was now empty.  
"I think we should." She said seriously. "Night air may be better for calming nerves than daytime air."

As Callie and Rogue emerged into the silent night, they felt immediately calmed. There was something close to a full moon in the sky, not blocked by any clouds, and the light shone onto the concrete path that was at the base of the mountain.  
"Don't you feel like you can do anything now?" Rogue asked, looking around at the blue-tinged trees that stood silently around them. "I feel like I could finally do whatever it is that Jean wants me to do."  
"But you don't know what that is." Callie pointed out. "It could be something that you definitely can't do." Rogue frowned a little at this statement.  
"What is there left for me to learn?" She asked. "I can stop myself from draining people's energy, and so can probably turn it back on to fight some bad guy. So what else is there?"  
"Another way you can use your power?" Callie suggested. "Many mutants powers have more than one dimension to them." The two silently wondered about this fact as they continued to walk down the path. Rogue was delighted when an owl flew across their path and back into the tress that lined the path. A mouse ran the opposite way across it, obviously outsmarting the bird so that it could live for another day. A cold wind picked up in the night and both girls shivered. They had not brought jackets with them to their nighttime adventure.  
"I think it's about time we went back." Callie commented. This has been helpful, but shouldn't you be getting some sleep if you're going to continue to train tomorrow?"  
"Yeah." Rogue said wearily, looking at the empty path in front of them for any sigh of movement to end her night. "I'm going to need whatever advantage I can if Jean says it going to be hard. The rest of it was supposed to be easy."

**Great! Great. It feels so good to be getting back onto the right track. I missed my inspiration for this story and im sure you did to. Reading a story that isn't making sense can't be very enjoyable, but I am now on the path to explaining, so sorry about the break and enjoy the rest that I post today!  
_Eyliena_**


	12. Chapter 12

**All right! Wonderful new chapter in which not everything is explained, but we will have some theories come out. This chapter will be fun for me to write, so I hope it's just as fun for you to read.**

Rogue had spent the night stressing, not relaxing. She was thinking incessantly about what had happened with James. She had known that something was wrong with him from the time he cornered her in the training room. James had not been his usual cheerful self; he had been cold and mean, but still she had stayed around him, and she even accepted the invitation to go back to his room. Rogue continually wondered why she had just gone along with him, even though he was making her feel uncomfortable. She blamed herself for not acting upon her instincts, and as she entered the cafeteria for breakfast and saw him sitting at their usual table, she felt even guiltier. When she had her food, she sat down at the table with the group of kids, across from James, and he greeted her with his usual cheerful smile, as if nothing had ever happened, and Rogue realised with some shock that he did not remember at all what had happened. He had no idea what she was going through as he started a conversation with her.  
"What have you been doing for the past few days?" He asked her. "Are your private lessons with Jean getting more intense?"  
Rogue gaped at him until she realised what she was doing, and closed her mouth quickly. James had noticed and he was giving her a strange look. She put her head down to eat her food and wondered what it may have been. If something had happened to James, wouldn't he have remembered it and apologised because he wasn't himself? Could it have been someone pretending to be James to get her alone? No. They wouldn't have been able to get into James' room… and she really didn't think that there was any mutant that would be so powerful that they could mimic another's powers as well as their appearance. It could only have been James using his room and his chameleon power. Rogue looked around the hall nervously, suspecting anyone in the room of messing with her, and Callie sat down next to her with her own tray off food, smiling happily at Rogue.  
"Who'd you see who got you so worried?" She asked jokingly. She lifted her fork to her mouth as Rogue looked at her, and as she was facing the front, she finally noticed that James was sitting directly opposite her. She froze with the fork halfway up to her mouth and just sat there like that until Rogue finally turned to her and elbowed her, which made Callie drop her fork onto her plate. The whole table was staring at them now. James was frowning, as he was about to say a cheerful greeting until he found that Callie was staring at him as if he had done something to be ashamed of.  
"What?" James asked. "Why is everyone staring at me like I've done something horrible?"  
"Its nothing." Said Rogue quickly. "We're just a little… on edge today…"  
Leaving their food untouched, Rogue grabbed hold of Callie's arm and pulled her away from the table.  
"Hey! What a waste of food." One of the little girls at the table complained.  
"You can eat it." Callie told her as she tried to wrench her arm away from Rogue's tight grip. "We haven't touched it, but we just remembered that we have to see Jean about… about something." The little girl looked satisfied by their explanation, although James didn't, and even though her stomach was growling with protest, Rogue pulled Callie away from the table and out of the cafeteria.  
"Where are we going to find Jean?" Callie asked as they stopped in the hallway outside the loud cafeteria. "Doesn't she usually come to you?"  
"Yeah. I don't know where her room is, or what she'll be doing now, but we have to find her."  
"What is so important that you need to tell her anyway?"  
"Why are you asking me? You're the one who told everyone in there that we needed to see her." Rogue teased. Callie just glared purposefully at her and Rogue had to give in. "Okay… James doesn't remember anything about what happened. He was so cheerful in there, as if nothing had happened… "I think he was possessed."  
"Oh great." Callie began breathing heavily as she looked all around her. "Are you sure he wasn't faking the ignorance?" Rogue nodded.  
"Completely sure." She said.  
"We have really got to fin Jean." Callie said nervously. "Anyone could be doing this."  
"So have you decided to come with me?" Rogue asked, taking advantage of her anxiety.  
"Are you kidding?" Callie asked. "You're the target. There's a powerful mutant or a ghost or something after you." She slowed down her breathing with some difficulty and then visibly calmed then she grinned. "Of course." Rogue beamed and hugged her fiend happily as someone else stepped into the hallway. They pulled apart quickly and turned to see who it was. Jean stood smiling at them.  
"Are you ready to start the most important part of your training?" She asked.  
"That depends." Rogue started, still smiling at the thought of Callie going with her. "Do I need to eat something first?" Jean thought about this for a second.  
"Maybe its better that you don't. It means that you can't vomit."  
"Is it that bad?" Rogue continued the lightness of the conversation, but Jean changed her tone to make it more solemn.  
"It all depends on you."

**Ooh. Ominous. What do you think is going to happen next?  
I'm really happy that my inspiration came back, and I might post one more chapter just to spoil all the surprise for you… until next chapter, this is Eyliena, signing off.  
_Eyliena _(hehe, I signed off, get it?)**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm feeling happy. I've written 2 chapters so far without any interruptions. Will this chapter be as lucky? I love being an idiot in my notes. Just tell me im an idiot if I go too far… :)  
Enjoy this chapter, and PLEASE review. I love having reviews, and since I've been so nice to post 3 chapters, the least ya'll could do is to review and tell me how much I've turned around the bad story that this had accidentally lapsed into (or you could tell me the opposite, it is your opinion, after all.) All reviews are welcomed and help to keep me going. It shows me that I have support, which I need to get through the last 2 months of school, and what I want to be an exciting career in writing ahead of me.**

Callie lounged on the ugly flowered couch as Jean and Rogue stood facing one another in their usual manner: Rogue as tense as it was possible for her to be, and Jean trying to make her feel as relaxed as possible.  
"You understand that the faster you get this, the faster you get to leave this place?" Jean asked Rogue. Callie didn't know whether she wanted Rogue to finish quickly or to drag this out as long as possible. Rogue nodded in answer, obviously going for the non-verbal approach that would make it easier for her not to be sick. "Rogue, I know that you do not like the destructiveness of your power, but whatever happens, you have to know that it is a part of who you are, and you're going to have to use that side of your power sometime, but I'm going to show you something else that your power can do." Rogue nodded again before Jean continued. "You have to understand that before you learnt to control your power, it just worked immediately in response to someone else's energy being so close to your own. Since you could never draw any energy away from me, it forced you to be able to control it. Can you control it without thinking now?" Rogue couldn't just nod in response to this question. She hesitated before answering.  
"I… I think so."  
"Lets hope you can, because you're going to have to use all of your concentration on this part of your power if you want it to work, and not worry about whether you're going to hurt someone or not." Rogue nodded again.  
"Will she be able to do this without thinking at some point?" Callie asked from her position sprawled out upon the chair.  
"In time." Jean answered quietly.  
"So what am I supposed to do?"  
Jean held out her hands to Rogue to take, and looked into her eyes.  
"Keep your eyes open this time, and try to feel my power. It helps if you look into my eyes, because you'll be able to find it better. You have to see exactly what it can do, where it hides from the world, what is attached to it…"  
"Yeah." Rogue prompted distantly, like she was a million miles away. Jean took a deep breath.  
"Use it." She said hastily, gripping Rogue's hands tightly so that she couldn't let go. "You can see and feel my power, so focus on one aspect of it and use it."

"You okay?" Callie had to ask the question of Rogue, even though it was quite obvious by how Rogue was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and not moving, that she was really not okay with what had just happened.  
"I have always been able to suck out another mutant's power and use it, but this is different. I could…" After sitting for so long in silence, Callie was surprised that Rogue was willing to divulge so much about what it was that she was feeling. Callie didn't mind when she trailed off, and didn't push for clarification of what she was talking about. Rogue just lay on the bed in silence and narrowed her eyes at it, as if trying to find a specific point on the completely white ceiling. "A mutant's powers are attached to their emotions. I should have known that from Logan, but…" He voice was barely a whisper, but because of the silence of the room, Callie had no trouble hearing her. "I didn't remember, and I don't think that Jean even realised that when I…" Callie wasn't bothered about Rogue's frequent pauses in the conversation. She could probably fill in the gaps by herself. She had watched as Rogue had reluctantly used Jean's telepathy to float a pencil in the air, and then she had quickly pulled her hands out of Jean's tight grip as violently as she could. She had stared at Jean meaningfully, almost pleading with her that she wouldn't make Rogue do it again, and it was as if there was a connection between the two still, that something had not left Rogue when she had pulled herself away from Jean. Callie had suddenly sat up, wondering what was going on in the room, and she was still wondering as Rogue turned to flee from the room and Jean stayed frozen to the spot, an unreadable expression upon her face. Callie followed Rogue, feeling very confused, and Rogue had let her, as she had left the door to her room open for Callie to enter behind her.  
"She did look a little bewildered." Callie admitted. She looked towards the closed door. "Do you think that Jean is still standing in the middle of the room?"  
"I just hope she doesn't expect me to do that again."  
"I think you should." Callie told her. "You're going to have to deal with your power sooner or later, anyway." Rogue finally turned her head to look at Callie for the first time sine before she had had the lesson with Jean.  
"What?" She asked. "Are YOU going to offer your powers and emotions for me to look at? Are you going to show me into your mind?"  
"Yes." Callie said simply as she moved from the floor onto the bed next to Rogue. Rogue was obviously stunned at such an abrupt answer to a request she thought Callie was going to refuse. She sat up to look at Callie more clearly.  
"You believe in my power that much?"  
"Yes." Callie repeated. Rogue sighed and looked towards the door.  
"Should we go and find Jean, then?" Callie just looked into Rogue's eyes. She knew what answer Callie was going to give and so she just stood up and inched hesitantly towards the door.

**Hey! That was a good chapter! If you think so, too, please review, or even if you don't think so. If there was something you think I could have explained better or something like that, please review. I want all of your reviews. Show me that you're reading my fanfiction. I hope that you all enjoyed my triple post this time, and if you're annoyed at the long break between posts, you can write that in a review as well. Give me lots of reviews mwahaha :p Thanks 4 reading plus reviewing,  
_Eyliena_**


	14. Chapter 14

Okay. School's over. I'm still looking for a job, but our computer has finally revived after its crashing episode, which means that, yay, I can start to write my fanfiction again! It has been so long, and by now I'm pretty sure that anyone who was reading this previously no longer cares. After my last post of two chapters I only gained 2 reviews, and if that wasn't a sign that very few people are actually happy with me, I don't know what is.

"You ready for this?" Rogue asked Callie as they stood face to face in the lounge room, with Jean now watching as she sat on the couch.

"Shouldn't I be asking if you're ready?" Callie asked her.

"No." Jean answered for Rogue. "You should definitely be prepared for this. Having your feelings invaded like that will leave you paralysed if you're not ready for it." Callie nodded.

"Okay." She said, holding out her hands. "I'm ready."  
It was the weirdest feeling for Rogue to find Callie's power. She had only ever looked inside Jean's mind before and the difference between a teenage and an adult mind was huge, not to mention the fact that Callie didn't know how to use her power as Jean did. Callie's mind was different, more innocent, less scared of what would eventually happen and more scared about what was happening in the present. It was nice for Rogue to know that someone else felt the same as her, and she was happy. When Rogue finally got Callie's power working, she was less happy. All she got from Callie was small flashes, but they were not happy scenes, they were filled with violence. Rogue let go and stumbled backwards.

"What?" Callie asked. "What did you see?" Rogue couldn't see the look upon her own face, but saw Callie's concerned expression and took a couple of deep breaths.

"I don't know." She answered. "But if you always see things like that I can see why you don't like to use your power." She looked pointedly over at Jean, who looked thoughtful.

"Did you find it easier to use someone else's power?" She asked, completely ignoring whatever vision Rogue had just had of the future. Rogue gave a confused look, but nodded. "And it was easier for you when it wasn't my mind you had to go into?" Rogue nodded again.

"It didn't bother me that much." Callie chimed in. If I wouldn't have already known that Rogue was using my power, I wouldn't have guessed it."

"That's good." Jean said approvingly. "That means that we can go straight on to the next part."

"Which is?" Rogue prompted. Jean smiled.

"Using another mutant's power with as little time and obvious contact as possible."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Bring in some new test subjects."

Callie and Rogue walked apprehensively into the training hall together, but nobody paid them any unwanted attention.

"Who has a power that wouldn't be too noticeable if I used it?" Rogue whispered as Callie scanned the room.

"I don't know." Callie answered softly. "I suppose that maybe… maybe you should practice more on me before you risk exposing your freaky power to everyone else."

"But if we do that, how do we know it works?"

"We could just ask James to help us." Callie suggested. The comment had the desired effect as Rogue shivered.

"I get your point, Callie, but I _have_ to do this. Now, tell me. What's Sarah's power?"

"Uh uh." Callie shook her head. "She can charge up energy balls and throw them at people."

"Steve?"

"His body becomes covered with metal."

"Tom?"

"He just moves really fast."

"Melinda?"

"I think we can just conclude that everyone here just has powers that are too open."

"Jean wouldn't have sent me out here if she had thought I couldn't do this."

"Maybe she didn't want you to keep it secret." Callie suggested.

"No. She didn't want everyone to panic."

"It's scary that you have a power that can actually cause panic."

"Nobody likes to have their mind invaded." Rogue told her. "Living with Professor Xavier will definitely teach you that."

"All right." Callie sighed. "Let me think for a while, okay? A power that wouldn't be too noticeable when you use it… Maybe… maybe if you just go for strength, huh? When you knock someone to the ground with ease, you'll know that you're using it."

"Sounds easy." Rogue agreed. "Who's got the extra strength?"

Callie led Rogue over to an old man hitting a punching bag.

"Rob?" She asked. "Do you think you could help Rogue?" The old man turned to face the girls and his wrinkly face creased into a smile.

"This is the little one who Jean's training, right?" He asked. Callie nodded.

"She needs some strength training, but I'm too weak."

"Yeah, in your case, the mind's stronger than the body, right? How's your training coming along, anyway?" He asked.

"Don't ask. Just controlling it is enough for me."  
The man faced Rogue and held out his hand.

"I'm Rob." He said to her. As Rogue took his hand and shook it, she was very aware of the fact that she no longer needed her gloves, but the only skin contact she'd had since she gained her powers was with Jean and Callie. Rob's hand was rough and wrinkly. She stared down at their hands as she shook his.

"Rogue." She replied, looking away from her hands and up at Rob's face.

"I see you gave up the gloves." He said to her. "It must be hard."

"Just strange." Rogue commented, pulling her hand away from Robs. "Are you going to help me?" She asked.

"I hope you don't want to be able to beat me by the end of this fight, I am very strong, you know."

"No, she just wants to stand up to you." Callie told him.

"What's the sparring game?" Rob asked Callie, obviously noting that she was doing all the talking for Rogue.

"We need a circle."

"Is this such a good idea?" Rogue asked Callie.

"Come on, he's not going to hurt you." Callie told her.

"I was actually more worried that I'd hurt him. He's not exactly young." Callie smiled.

"Looks can be deceiving." She told her. "You just try to knock him out of the circle first."

Rogue moved into the circle and looked Rob in the eye. He didn't seem worried.

"Don't worry; I'll go easy on you to start with." He told her. Somebody blew a whistle and Rogue realised that there was a crowd watching before she was knocked out of the circle when the old man tackled her. She stared at him from the mat.

"I thought you were going to go easy on me." She said. Rob laughed as he held out his hand to help her up.

"That doesn't mean I want to lose. We have an audience, in case you didn't notice."

"See?" Callie whispered in her ear. "Now are you going to try?"

"Round two!" Somebody yelled as Rogue got back into the circle. The whistle blew and Rogue dodged to the side as Rob lunged at her again. He smiled at her as they faced off. Rob moved closer and Rogue tried to ram him, but found herself on the mat at Rob's feet. She was winded, and cringed as the crowd counted down from three.

"You up for round three?" Rob asked her as he helped her up again. Breathing heavily, Rogue ignored Rob's hand and stood up by herself. As the whistle blew again, she circled him and rammed, but pulled back quickly when she realised it didn't do anything. She glanced at Callie, who was standing behind Rob at a safe distance away from the circle. Callie smiled encouragingly and Rogue had to dodge as Rob took a shot at her. Rob was faster than Rogue thought, and once again she lay outside the circle.

"Come on." She heard Callie say. "Concentrate. You're not even trying." She pulled Rogue to a sitting position.

"You're right." She agreed. "I've just been trying to beat him. I'm just… not used to using my powers like that."

"So get used to it. That's what this practice is for."  
Rob came and stood above Rogue again.

"Are you sure you're up for another round?" He asked, smiling. "I don't think you should have even started. You've never even strength trained before, have you?"  
Rogue stood up quickly.

"I'm going to beat you." She told him confidently. "Believe me; I'll push you right out of that circle." She jumped into the circle again and stood ready for another round as Rob looked at Callie and sighed.

"I'm only doing this because you're Callie's friend." He said. He seemed hesitant for another round because of how quickly he had beaten her previously. Rogue finally ignored all of the distractions around her and concentrated on her ability to use another mutant's power. As Rob lunged for her again, she sidestepped and rammed him with her shoulder. He recovered before she could reach his power, so Rogue jumped backwards.

"You've tried that before." Rob told her. "There is no way that you're strong enough to knock me out of the circle."

"Believe me, I'm just warming up." Rogue replied, watching his movements closely so that he wouldn't catch her off guard again.

Callie watched Rogue move around the circle, dodging Rob and trying to ram him. She couldn't use his power in the short time it took to ram him, and so was not getting anywhere. She sighed, wondering if Rogue was ever going to just push him

Whatever word limit I've had in previous chapters, I just threw right outta the window. Plenty of times I thought I should just wrap it up, but first I didn't have enough words, then I couldn't bear to stop at that part, then I just thought stuff it, I'm gonna keep going. Starting a new chapter would take too long. Hope you're happy. If you liked the chapter, please review. If you're still reading this fanfic after my… long absence from updating, please tell me. I'd like to know if I didn't annoy anyone too much by taking a break because of school stress.


	15. morals

**Two chapters for the price of one… I wrote the previous chapter quite a while ago, seeing as I finished school in September and all, but my computer crashed again, we went on holiday, I had Christmas stuff to do, and I finally got back to my own original stories. Sorry about the break. I never forgot about this fanfic, tho, and I came back (hopefully until I'm finished.)  I also (finally) took the time to do more than single spacing in the lines. I can't bear to do double spacing, so I hope that 1.5 makes it easy enough to read.**

Round four was fast-paced as Rogue was doing a lot of dodging, and when Rob had slowed down to a manageable speed, she saw her chance to try for a ram again. She got around behind the old man and rammed his back. Rogue fell over when Rob went flying across the room. She sat up and looked around at the startled faces of their audience. Rob had been thrown into the middle of them, and they looked from Rob to Rogue with surprised faces. The room was silent until one of the boys started clapping, and the whole audience was cheering. Rogue found that she was not happy, though. She had just used Rob's own power against him. Rob finally sat up, looking shocked, and Rogue couldn't look him in the eye. She stood up and started to move out of the circle.

"Wait!" Came Rob's voice. He ran up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, but didn't look up from the floor. "How did you do that?" He asked. "For the first three rounds you were… you were weak. You could never have…"

"Do you just want a rematch?" Callie asked him.

"I can't give him a rematch." Rogue spoke softly and didn't look up. She walked out of the room quickly so that nobody else would stop her. Nobody tried to stop her, they just moved out of her way so that she could get to the door.

Rogue sat silently across from Jean and Jean watched her carefully. Callie entered the room and Rogue still didn't look up.

"Ah Callie." Jean stated. "Maybe you can tell me what happened since Rogue seems to be giving me the silent treatment.

"To tell you the truth, Jean. I'm not really sure what happened. Rogue used Rob's power in a circle spar and then she just ran off. I stayed to tell everyone else that I didn't know what was wrong with Rogue." Rogue just sat and said nothing as Callie sat down beside her on the chair. "You gotta tell us, at least what's wrong, Rogue." She told her.

"There's nothing wrong with me." Rogue answered. The room was silent as they waited for her to continue and Rogue sighed. "It's just that... using your power against another mutant is bad enough, but I was... it wasn't even my power. It was his."

"I see." Jean commented. The two girls looked at Jean as she said nothing else.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Callie asked her.

"There's nothing we can do about it." Jean replied. "Rogue is still going to feel this way no matter what I say."

"Then what do I do?"

"It's your decision to make. If you feel that using another mutant's power is wrong and you won't do it, I can't force you. I'm just going to say that it will be a lot better for all of us if you decide it's for the greater good that you learn to control this."

"Is that all you're going to say?"

"That's all."

"Can I think about it?"

Jean just nodded her answer and Rogue stood up and walked out of the room.

Rogue lay on her bed, agonising over the moral decision that was set before her. Was it right to use another mutant's power without their knowledge? She desperately wanted to know what it was that Jean thought was so important about her power, what she had seen happen that could possibly be solved by her. Surely Jean was powerful enough to do it without her. The door wasn't locked, and someone opened the door and walked in. She closed the door and Rogue could feel eyes upon her. She rolled over to look at her uninvited guest. Callie was standing by the door as she always did, just watching Rogue quietly.

"Do you want something?" Rogue asked her.

"No, I just want to be here when you make your decision."

"No words of wisdom, then?"

"Nope. I don't wanna pressure you into anything. It's your decision to make."

"Did Jean tell you to say that?"

"No, it's just something I know."

"How do you know, Callie?" Rogue sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, indicating for Callie to sit next to her. "How do we know what decision we're supposed to make and if it's the right one?"

"You just do what you feel is right, Rogue." Callie didn't move from her space near the door. "Search your heart and you'll know what is right."

"That's easy for you to say, having psychic powers makes it simple." Callie smiled.

"Not always." She commented, sitting next to Rogue. "But you can use mine if you want, if it's gonna help you to decide."

"Last time I-" Rogue cut herself off.

"Last time you saw what? Nothing that is predicted necessarily has to happen, besides; maybe you'll see something about yourself."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Rogue asked hesitantly. Callie just laughed.

"It's only okay if you want it; because I know I've had my own struggles with my power in the past."

"And you know there's nothing to be scared of now?"

"No, but maybe someday I will, just as long as you have the strength to try as well."

**I might as well end the chapter there. I like where this story is going, even after my really bad chapter somewhere in the middle. I think when I'm inspired enough, I'll re-write it so it's not quite so… bad… confusing. Take your pick of words to describe how utterly pathetic the chapter was (not this one, or I'll cry :p )**


	16. Chapter 16

Rogue stepped slowly into Jean's room. Callie wasn't with her, so she felt hesitant. Jean smiled at her as she entered, but this just made her feel more uncomfortable.

"What's your decision?" Jean asked, still giving Rogue that unnerving smile. Rogue ignored her discomfort and sighed.

"I realised I have to do this."

"I knew you would, I just didn't want to pressure you to do something you were uncomfortable with."

"So what now?" Rogue asked, dreading the answer. Jean's eyes flashed to red for a moment and Rogue stepped backwards towards the door. Jean looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Where's Jean?" Rogue whispered. "And who are you?"

"Oh, so you noticed, did you?" Jean stood up and moved towards Rogue menacingly. "You're obviously a sharp one, aren't you? Why don't we just save all the violence that could happen here and you just tell me what's so special about my little Rogue."

"I'm not telling you anything!" Rogue exclaimed as she backed up to the door.

"You should probably be told that all this training you're doing with Ms Gray is useless." Jean said as she advanced. "Not even your mentor can stop me from taking over."

"Then why don't you just do it now?" Rogue asked her sarcastically. "Because all you're showing me you can do is threaten me. This is the second time, and I don't know what you're trying to prove." Rogue was fumbling around behind her to find the door handle.

"I just came to tell you that there's only one more thing I need to take over the world, and to make you see that there's nothing you can do, so stop trying."

"That 'taking over the world' thing is a little clichéd. You've been watching too many movies."

"Just tell Jean that I've been here without her even noticing." The irritation was now showing in the fake Jean's voice. "And for the record, the last time wasn't me. I suggest you stay away from a boy who doesn't know what he's doing." Rogue's hand closed around the handle, but she just stared into the face of the mystery enemy for a few seconds, not able to move until she started moving slowly forward again. Rogue finally opened the door and ran out into the hallway, with no idea of where she was going.

Rogue was running in any random direction, quickly getting herself lost, when she barrelled into a person and fell on the floor.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Came a familiar laughing voice. Rogue looked up to see Rob standing above her. He held out a hand to help her up and Rogue took it. "Oh, it's you." He laughed as he pulled her up. "Nice hit. I was surprised you had that much strength in you. Do you by any chance want a rematch?"

"No." Rogue said shakily, trying to match his happy tone. "Like you said, I caught you off guard; I wouldn't be able to do it again."

"But you have so much promise." Rob now had a pleading tone in his voice. "I could train you."

"Jean's already training me." Rogue stated quickly. Rob laughed again.

"But Jean can't give you strength training. All you managed to do was knock me off balance with raw power. You don't really know how to use the power properly."

"How bout I get back to you on that offer?" Rogue asked, now anxious to find the real Jean.

"Fine. You know where to find me." Rob called after her as she continued her sprint down the hallway.

Rogue couldn't remember how she found Jean. It was a blur of running through endless hallways and frantically asking anyone she met if they had seen Jean. Now she sat with Jean silently, once more working up the courage to say anything about what happened. Jean seemed patient, but Rogue knew it must be frustrating for her. After about 20 minutes of strange silence Jean sighed.

"Do you want me to go get Callie?" She asked.

"No. Callie might…" Rogue took a deep breath as Jean leant forward to hear what she had been sitting there so long to hear. Rogue took a deep breath to calm herself. "Callie would be scared."

"You don't give Callie enough credit. She-"

"She would be scared because I'm scared." Rogue interrupted. "I… I ran into… someone who… looked like you, Jean."

"Someone who looked like me? Where?"

"That's the thing that's scary. This mutant… she didn't seem like Mistique. Everything was… wrong about her. Not only that, but she was in your room, Jean. She knew about James. She told me to tell you that she's been here for this long without you knowing it." Jean looked a little disturbed by this information, but she never stopped being calm.

"Do you think that she is after you, Rogue?" She asked softly.

"No, she has obviously had more than one chance to get at me if she wanted to."

"And it doesn't look like she wants anything from me except to stay out of whatever business she has." Jean was thoughtful. "So we're not in any immediate danger and we shouldn't cause anyone to panic."

"She said that we should stop trying to stop her because she only needs one more thing to finish her plan."

"She obviously doesn't know what it is yet." Jean commented.

"How do you know that?" Rogue asked her. Jean flinched and looked up at Rogue.

"Oh, I was just… thinking out loud. Ignore me."

"Please don't do that to me. I've been through enough today Jean, and you're acting like… like her."

"I'm sorry, Rogue." Jean stood up to comfort her. "You know I'm a little freaked out, too. If she's been here for a while then I can only hope she hasn't figured out what it is she needs yet. You go… have a little bit of fun, okay? I'm guessing that since you came looking for me, you've made up your mind to continue training?"

"I guess I have to now." Rogue sighed. "The bad guy doesn't come to threaten someone who can't stop her, does she?"

**Look, I tried to write more in this chapter. I don't know what's wrong, but if I wrote any more, it would be worse than that conversation at the end was starting to look. Please forgive me.**

_**eyliena**_


	17. beginnings

**All right. New Year. New… uh… chapter. There's a new format as well. I'm trying to get back into the swing of this story, so forgive the bad-ness of the story. I'm trying, okay?**

_**Eyliena**_

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Jean seemed nervous to start 'advanced training' on Rogue. Like something Rogue had said at some point had made her nervous. Callie was sitting above her on the top bunk of a bed. Rogue had no idea whose room they were in, but it didn't really matter. Jean said that they weren't going to train in the same place twice any more in case someone was watching them. Rogue sighed at the question that Jean had seemingly asked for the fiftieth time. 

"What's worrying you about this power of mine?" She asked, catching Jean off guard with her new answer to the same old question. Jean looked hesitantly up at Callie.

"Something has definitely got you on edge, Jean." Callie agreed.

"There's some things that… Look Rogue, you have to know that having amazing power is… it's a burden. More of a curse than you would have ever thought your powers were before. Being more powerful than everyone else… it brings responsibility with it."

"I'm ready." Rogue confirmed. "Tell me what I can do with my powers and I'll do it."

Jean looked nervously at Callie, then back to Rogue.

"You can do more than just use another mutant's power. You can copy another mutant's power."

"You mean I can have someone else's power as well as my own?" Rogue seemed a little excited, but hesitant at the same time.

"I mean you can have EVERY other mutant's power as well as your own." Rogue's only reaction was to step backwards.

"That's an awesome power." Callie breathed. "You'd be more powerful than…"

"More powerful than any other mutant, including me." Jean finished for Callie.

**

* * *

Okay, really short, I know. I told you I have to get back into it, it's hard. I promise I'll update SOON – and not in another 11 months. I am also going to go back to the start and re-write (or maybe just re-post if a re-write is not needed) every chapter. **

It's all about new beginnings.

Note that my re-writes may not actually differ too much from the story. I'll tell you if i make a plot change, if not, then I will just be fixing up grammar and making things clearer.

_Eyliena_


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